


The Hat Trick

by THRILLHO



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Not Beta Read, Slice of Life, Unrequited Crush, You’ll have more fun if you don’t think too much, kind of ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/THRILLHO/pseuds/THRILLHO
Summary: The day started off bad as if the universe was against her but maybe it was leading her to where she needed to be.For Shenron’s Dungeon’s Shamrock Shenron Event Day 2: Luck/Green
Relationships: Bulla Briefs/Son Goten, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 10
Collections: Shamrock Shenron





	The Hat Trick

**Author's Note:**

> 😅
> 
> Not my best, a small idea that became full-fledged when I saw the event announcement. Regardless, if you’re from Shenron’s Dungeon, thanks for stopping by! It’s nice to meet all of you. Not proofread, sorry. 😬 Let me know if you see any typos, I would very much appreciate that.

Bulla supposed it started when she couldn’t find her red headband and chose a backup green one. Then in picking up her phone, her finger slipped on the page she had been browsing, giving him an accidental like from her profile.  _ Shit, shit,  _ she thought. It didn’t matter if she un-liked it because the alert would already be on his phone if he checked such things. Worse, it was a photo from months ago that she had to scroll down to find. She was possessed trying to find a weakness in him to exploit but found none, except his ankles were kind of skinny but she didn’t know how that would help her.  _ Maybe a leg sweep?  _ She shook her head. That was a ridiculous thought!

If she had any hope to keep her crush hidden it died then and there. To mitigate the disaster, the only thing she could think of was to start following him for real—instead of checking his page every day—and like every photo. She did it on Trunks’ page too so it wouldn’t look like Uub was someone special to her.  _ Better do the same to Goten as well.  _ She liked Marron’s and Pan’s posts as they were posted—the latter of which Uub seemed to like too, Bulla remembered and ground her teeth a bit at the thought. Either way, being a serial liker was not out of character for her at all! No, it shouldn’t arouse any type of suspicion!

All her following and liking took more time than she anticipated—Goten posted an awful lot of thirst traps—and she ran late to her meeting. It did not matter, she thought, she could take her hoverbike, the one she used when she needed to get around West City traffic. She hightailed it out of the house to the grounds where she threw out her capsule only to have a bunch of girly magazines explode on the lawn.

“What the hell?” Bulla said to herself before she realized and screamed, “TRUNKS!” It would be like him to mess with her capsule case. She threw another and then another, each time revealing something stupid and useless: pool inflatables, fridges full of beer and liquor, ropes, fireworks, boxes of condoms, a shirt that read ‘I HAVE A PENIS’ in her size, but no vehicle in sight except a unicycle. 

Bulla clenched her fist ready to find her brother and strike but she had no time to do that or clean up the lawn. Her only option was to fly and hope that she could smooth down her hair before the meeting. That would have been bearable if not for the fact that once she stepped out of the Capsule Corporation gate, a dog with a vendetta came out and chased her. To avoid any bloodshed she took to the sky, not seeing where she was going and flew into a pack of geese. Taking her as a threat, they pecked at her and slapped her with their wings before she could say sorry and get away. 

When she arrived at the building, it wasn’t enough that she had to break out her emergency comb in the ground floor ladies’ room but she also needed to pull out stray feathers that tangled their way into her hair during the scuffle. All that didn’t make her almost late; she was  _ late.  _ Her team was nowhere in sight in the lobby. She gave a resigned sigh knowing they could not have waited for her so close to the start of the pitch. She cursed herself for having spent too much time opening each of Trunks’ capsules instead of assuming he would have been kind enough to leave her something useful.

Out of breath, she climbed the many flights of stairs to the upper levels of the high-rise building, cursing the inclination of rich men’s egos to put the most profitable companies at the top. There was no time to give herself a mental pep talk as her mind focused on breathing and moving her limbs. When she made it to the door to the top floor she was so clumsy in her movements that she didn’t pull her hand away in time.

“SON OF A BITCH!” 

The impact of the door against the dense nerve fibers of her fingertips hit her harder than a kick to her chest from her dad. Though she tried to reach the conference room unnoticed, her outburst turned more than a few heads. It was her big chance to prove herself and she was blowing it.  _ Get it together!  _ She scolded herself. 

The first thing she noticed upon reaching the top floor was the glass. Glass everywhere, the front desk, the walls, and the doors. Bulla would not have put it past them to put glass floors and ceilings if it was feasible. It all seemed breakable to her. Furthermore, it meant a lack of privacy, which she supposed a ruthless, profitable company didn’t mind their employees not having.

Bulla put on her best smile—the one Goten said could charm a god of destruction—and approached the receptionist’s desk. She did not have much success in taming her appearance. While she was lucky to have a comb with her, without her capsule case, there was no spare wardrobe and she had to make do with her once put-together skirt and sweater vest combo that was now dirty and not lacking goose feathers.

The woman at the front desk eyed her with a perceptible curled lip. 

“Bulla Briefs for Mr. Bisou?” She cleared her throat and attempted to keep her breathing under control. The stress of the morning—far from over—still tormenting her and rattling her insides.

The receptionist’s eyebrows shot up and she looked all the more interested in the guttersnipe that came to her front desk.

“Ms. Briefs!” She stood up and came from behind her desk. “I was given instructions to bring you over as soon as you came though. They’ve already started.” Bulla had little time to admire the huge offices of the big wigs of the Yangtze corporation as she was led to the huge conference room where her team was seated and—Bulla’s heart sank—Ambitieuse, her rival, was giving  _ her  _ presentation that she spent many nights mulling over and perfecting. 

She knew better than to interrupt a smooth running presentation, and her plan was to sneak in once the receptionist nodded and left without another word. It was her fortune that the adrenaline coursing through her system would make her forget her strength and instead of pulling the glass door open with a gentle hand, she pulled it off its hinges attached to the glass wall. The screams from everyone else drowned out her own when her heel gave out and she took an unexpected tumble.

* * *

That disaster made her forget all about the Uub disaster in the morning as she moaned to Marron from where she hid in her bed under a blanket.

“And then the whole glass wall came down,” Bulla said and heard Marron’s sharp intake of breath. “That’s not even the worst part. My heel broke and it’s beyond repair. I loved these boots and they don’t make them anymore!” 

“Bulla!” Marron chided on the other end. “Someone could have gotten hurt—”

“Yeah, but no one did, only me when I took that tumble. And I wear those boots for good luck!”

“They can’t have been that lucky if all that happened,” she said. “You’re okay, right?” Marron moved from reproach to her typical nurturing self.

“Yeah, yeah, luckily I was the only one any glass landed on and I’m sturdy enough to handle it.” She decided not to tell Marron how a human would have been sliced in half had one been in her place.

“Why don’t we go out for drinks tonight? Take your mind off things?” Marron said. Bulla sunk back into her bed and sighed. That sounded heavenly; just her and a girlfriend, no pressure.

“You know, I think that could—” A fierce pounding at her door interrupted her sentence.

A muffled voice on the other side of her bedroom yelled, “BULLA!” Then it was followed by more pounding.

“Can I call you back?” Bulla said into her phone and hung up not waiting for a response. To her brother on the other side of the door, she screamed back, “WHAT?!” This whole day wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for him.

“WHY IS MY STUFF ALL OVER THE LAWN?!”

* * *

“You said we were going  _ out  _ for drinks,” Bulla mumbled. She did not shower and fix herself up to hang out with the same old crowd that consisted of family—and pseudo-family—members. She even found her lucky red headband thinking it would turn things around for her. Flirting with someone new would help heal her bruised ego, she thought. If Marron’s detour was any indication, her lucky red headband wasn’t working. For all the worrying she did about liking Uub’s post, he had not even responded to her messages on the app, instead, she was inundated with messages from Goten, someone she did not care to hear from. She enjoyed the man’s company but he  _ was not _ a potential love interest.

“Everyone else wanted to hang out too, and not all of us can afford to drink at bars.” Marron winked at her as she knocked on the door to her cousin Jasper’s appointment. “Pan might have convinced a certain someone to come over too, a small balm to your crappy day.” Marron smiled at her thinking she did good but the words that echoed throughout her head were,  _ “Pan...convinced...Pan convinced…” _

Seventeen’s son looked so much like his father save for the brown eyes and Bulla found herself swooning a bit. “Hey, Marron,” he greeted his cousin and hugged her. “Bulla,” he addressed her with a nod and small smile, turning away from her attempt at getting a hug.

_ Right,  _ Bulla thought and tried to alleviate the awkwardness that set upon her by trying to find someone else to talk to since Marron ditched her as soon as they entered the apartment. There were Tungsten and Tantalum—Jasper’s siblings—talking to Goten, her brother was there too—unfortunately for her—with Mai, but there was no sign of the youngest Son and the special guest she would bring.

It was as if her visual sweep of the small apartment acted like a magnet for her male counterpart and she locked eyes with Goten. A lopsided smirk painted his face as they made eye contact and he stared at her with such boldness that he didn’t even blink as he sipped from his glass. The whole interaction sent a shiver down Bulla’s spine and she looked away to break the connection.

_ Strictly off limits _ , she told herself. Still,  _ that expression. _ ..What was that about? She shook it off, needing some liquid courage if Uub was going to show up. She felt bad taking more liquor than anyone else—considering her heritage—but Bulla didn’t know how she would get through the night without it. 

The hunkiest man in the room—so far—approached her, still wearing that grin of his. “Let me top that off for you,” he said. Goten leaned against the counter on his side facing her but made no move to pour more alcohol into the glass she poured.

“Ha ha,” she said. “So what brought you to this unprompted get together?” He would have to do for company, at least until Pan and Uub got there. The thought of them together brought a small sting to her spine but she brushed it off. It might be nothing, she reminded herself. 

“I heard you were coming,” he said. He winked at her and made a clicking sound with his mouth like some sleaze trying to pick her up at a bar. 

Bulla rolled her eyes. “Please, Goten, I’ve had such a shitty day. You can cool it with your fake flirting. You’ve gotten my hopes up too many times.”

Goten dropped his scuzzy façade and blinked his wide eyes several times. “Wait, really?”

“No,” Bulla said the half-truth. “I know you’re joking. Two can play at that game, you know.” She felt pleased with herself that for once Goten didn’t have a saucy response for her. “The part about the shitty day is true though, so don’t test me.” Bulla took a gulp of the smoky, woodsy liquid and felt it burn her tongue and throat.  _ Ah, the cheap stuff,  _ she thought. It did not matter, it would make her less inhibited regardless.

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Goten said, his smile back in full force, the kind one.

“Oh yes, it was,” Bulla started. Though she did not want to recount her day again, it was easy to talk to Goten. Despite not being close, the familiarity of knowing someone since childhood made her more comfortable around him than Marron’s cousins—or Uub.

“Well, my day started off great,” Goten said. “A cutie liked a bunch of my photos dating back months. Funny, they were all shirtless pics.”

That choking feeling tickled her throat but she willed it away to swallow the abrasive liquid instead of spitting it out—not because she cared about Goten but she hated to waste alcohol, even the cheap stuff. That did nothing to relieve the coughing fit as some drops managed to make their way to her trachea. Bulla’s cheeks began to heat up and not due to the alcohol. She remembered back to how she was lost in Goten’s posts and her unconscious inclination to like  _ certain  _ ones.

“That’s part of why my day started off so bad,” Bulla said, not taking the bait, though she knew her face told another story. “Did you know  _ my dad _ thought it would be funny to switch mine and Trunks’ capsule cases? I found out way more about my brother today than I ever wanted to.” She saw Goten open his mouth to say something but she nipped it in the bud. “And don’t flatter yourself, mister. My liking your posts was a strategic move.”

Goten held his hands up to her in surrender. “I was only going to say, I didn’t think Vegeta had it in him.” Not being able to contain himself, he laughed at her predicament. He must have known what kind of chicanery laid in Trunks’ capsule case.

“Yeah, and if you can believe it, he made me clean up the lawn and blasted all of Trunks’ magazines. He’s been really into feminism lately.” The liquor doing its work, Bulla felt herself loosening up from the tight coil she had wound herself into, and began to giggle. 

“That’s not so bad,” Goten said.

“Not by itself, no,” Bulla agreed. “But when he switched the capsules, I had no vehicle to get to my extra important meeting uptown, so I had to fly, and not only was I attacked by a dog on the ground but a flock of geese when I tried to get away from said dog.” The whole thing sounded preposterous to her ears and if she was Goten she would have a hard time believing her own words. She recounted the rest of it, the bad hair, disheveled outfit, property damage, and then, “We ended up losing out on the trillion zeni deal, of course.”

Goten’s face scrunched up and he took in a sharp breath through his gritted teeth. “None of that was your fault though.”

“I mean, technically it was, but Mr. Bisou is superstitious it seems, and I guess I brought a lot of bad juju around according to him. That’s the thing about luck,” Bulla observed, “it can be good or bad but either way you don’t earn the consequences of it.”

“Fair,” Goten clinked his glass with hers even though she didn’t lift it. “Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something? Is marketing something you want to do?”

“No—” she blurted, “I mean yes,” she stumbled over her words. “This is what I went to school for. I’m lucky to have gotten a job on my merits instead of my family name.” Part of proving herself was making it on her own, the only thing was that she hated what she did, but she wouldn’t admit it now.

Goten shrugged, taking her at her word. “But what do my thirst traps have anything to do with it? What was the strategy there?” He quirked his perfect left eyebrow at her. “How was that going to help you land that deal?” 

“It wasn’t a deal I was trying to land with that,” Bulla said without thinking. The smirk was back in full force from Goten but before she could correct herself, the one she had been waiting for arrived on the arm of her good friend. 

“Hey, everyone’s here!” Trunks said, causing a chorus of ‘hey’ and ‘hi’. Bulla looked to see the object of her affection on her friend’s arm, looking shy and out of place. He never did adjust to the big city life and having to wear shoes. It was what endeared him to her, his gentle spirit and innocent demeanor but this might be her first chance to speak to him one on one. It was not her style to admire someone from afar but something about his skittishness kept her at a distance the way she wouldn’t be with other guys she was interested in. There was something about his energy that called out to her, it wasn’t human, nor Saiyan, but that part of her drew him to her.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Bulla said to Goten before waltzing up to Pan and Uub. Goten could think what he wanted, actions spoke louder than words and she was going to make her point today.

“Hey,” she said as she approached the two new arrivals. She moved to hug Pan first but as she did, Uub excused himself after a, ‘hey, Bulla,’ and went to speak to the man she just left. Her confidence shattered like the glass wall she destroyed earlier.  _ Not even a passing glance… _

“You look down,” Pan said, her eyes scanning Bulla. “Marron did say you had a bad day.”

“Something like that,” Bulla said and took another drink of the turpentine-like substance in her glass. “Bad, bad, bad, but I’m hoping things turn around.” She let her eyes drift to where Goten and Uub were speaking. Each threw punches and kicks in the middle of their stories with Uub’s movements in particular getting Bulla fired up, her stiff limbs itching for action. Her line of vision did not escape Pan’s notice who tutted.

“Really, Bulla? My uncle?”

“What? No—” Bulla began to deny, but Pan fixed her with that knowing grin, never looking more like her uncle. “Stop,” Bulla rolled her eyes. She held her tongue when it came to Uub, not knowing what was going on between the two of them and not about to start drama. It would be a good opportunity to find out, however. “What about you? Marron said it was you that got Mr. Shy Guy over there to turn up.”

Unlike Bulla, when Pan blushed it was pretty, a soft pink dusting on the tops of her cheeks. She brushed a strand of short hair behind her ear. Pan only did that when she was unsettled. “Yeah, I’m always saying he should get out more. There’s more to life than training to be Earth’s greatest hero. Don’t want him turning out like grandpa.” Bulla knew which grandpa she referred to, Mr. Satan was all glitz, glamour, and affability. Goku only knew farming, feeding, and fighting.

An uproar of laughter came from the center of the room where the biggest crowd of their little group gathered. “What do you suppose is going on there?” Bulla inclined her head to the people trying to control their laughter. Pan shrugged and so Bulla shouted over to the group, “Hey, what’s going on?” 

“We’re talking about playing some drinking games,” Marron answered her. “Can you believe Trunks suggested spin the bottle?” After being privy to his capsule case, she could.

“Spin the bottle?” Bulla said and scrunched her nose. Was he insane? “Everyone is related to someone in this room.”

“Nuh uh,” Goten said, his attention caught by the ruckus. “Uub and Mai aren’t related to anyone here and granted our families are close but Pan and I aren’t related to any of you guys.”

Bulla’s heart leapt as she looked over to Goku’s protégé, the sweet, humble man who she thought might distract him from the girl who had some sort of hold on him. If only she had a chance…

Everyone else had enough to drink that it seemed like a good idea—even the twin blushing Pan and Uub—and they began to gather around in a circle on the floor, using the bottle Trunks polished off. 

“Anyone unrelated has to kiss on the lips, related a peck on the cheek, alright?” Trunks laid out the rules. Bulla reluctantly put herself in between Marron and Pan, thinking it was all a stupid idea and with the luck she had today, she knew she wasn’t going to land on anyone she wanted to kiss. What made her join was part peer pressure and part hope her luck would turn around. 

Trunks, still at the reins, said, “Okay in the unlikely event of an unrelated hat-trick, it’s seven minutes in heaven. I’ll spin first, this is not me going first—” he paused to let the boos reign down on him, “but to be fair and select who goes first.” 

“Bullshit,” someone coughed under their breath but the crowd went along and the only sound was the spinning of the heavy bottle on Jasper’s wood floor. It was a few agonizing moments as everyone held their breath as the bottle slowed down, teasing each person it passed until it stopped at the person across from her, Goten. There were whoops, laughs, and sighs of relief.

“Too bad it wasn’t your turn Trunks,” Marron said. “I would have liked to have seen that.” A chorus of ‘oohh’ followed with Trunks and Goten giving each other little smirks. The only people unamused were she and Pan.

“Alright, alright, settle down,” Goten said. He rolled up his sleeves and placed his hand on the clear bottle, taking a sharp inhale.  _ Could he be nervous? _ Bulla wondered.

Unlike that first turn, this one stopped abruptly, the neck of the bottle pointing at Bulla.

Her heart beat faster as everything else moved in slow motion, some clapping, someone nudged her forward. She dared glance at her brother who even seemed all for it.  _ How much did he have to drink to think this was a good idea?  _ She should have known better than to gamble with kissing games on this day.

Among the cheering and the giggling of the others and without time to think, Bulla closed her eyes and found herself pulled into Goten’s gravity, her head and neck pushing herself forward to meet him.

His kiss was warm, soft, a little wet with a hint of sharpness from the alcohol and over too soon, bringing a small tingle and numbness to her lips when they pulled apart.

To everyone else, nothing spectacular happened but Bulla found herself dazed and a little giddy, convincing herself the alcohol was doing its job. While there were claps and cheers, Bulla dared to look over to whom she hoped the bottle would land on next and saw him completely unbothered and more than a little mirthful. It hurt a little but she might win him over yet. 

It did not take much coaxing for Bulla to take her turn, running calculations in her head to find the angle and the force needed to get the bottle to land on Uub. Perhaps it was the alcohol or the loopiness from Goten’s kiss, but her calculations were wrong and instead of landing on the island stud, the bottle pointed to the mountain stud.

“What are the chances?” Marron giggled next to her. Bulla looked at the man across from her rearing for round two. He wasn’t smiling but his face was still soft, his eyes darker than normal. A light buzz came over her mind as unknown forces pulled her toward Goten once again, everything else around her becoming duller as all sensations centered on their connection.  _ I don’t hate it  _ was the only thing that ran through Bulla’s mind. She felt her hand inch from the floor towards her kissing partner but he pulled away before it went deeper.

She was sure her face was red by now, her embarrassment stemmed from being caught in the moment.

_ This was  _ **_Goten_ ** , she reminded herself, too old and inappropriate for her, but damn, her head was swimming from his kisses.  _ Remember your objective. Uub. Uub is your objective.  _ It was nice while it lasted but it was Goten’s turn again and no way would it manage to land on her again. That’s not how the universe worked, it was chaos, not neatly organized to keep Bulla and Goten’s lips falling together.

Goten cleared his throat, flicking his wrist with his spin, just as quiet as she. Bulla held her breath, only hearing the hammering of her heart in her head as the bottle slowed to a stop.

Much to the delighted squealing of everyone else, the bottle spun to her again.

“SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!” Pan said above the other voices, likely the only one who remembered Trunks’ rule. It was all a blur, as she felt hands picking her up and pushing her to Jasper’s bathroom as he had no walk-in closet.

Bulla’s heart drummed in her chest like a metronome going one hundred and twenty beats per minute.

“Seven minutes, starting….NOW!” Marron said from the other side of the door. Like any fight or flight situation, Bulla tried the door only to be met with an unmovable force on the other side.

“Nuh uh,” she heard Trunks say. “Now it’s ten minutes!”

It was fight, she supposed.

“Um, hi,” she said, deigning to look at the bathroom’s other occupant. She could not decipher his neutral expression though she noticed his dark, glassy eyes were on her but not her face. 

“We don’t need to do anything,” Goten said, stepping back and diverting his attention from her. He settled by the far wall leaning against it with one leg up and hands behind his head.

Because she was who she was, Bulla couldn’t help but be a little insulted. It couldn’t be that he found her undesirable. That couldn’t be it! “What? Are you afraid of my dad or something?” Bulla sauntered to him, feeling excitement bubble up in her chest.

Goten guffawed but still stood there unmoving, “Why would I be afraid of your dad?”

“He could kill you,” Bulla said, using one of her father’s lines whenever he met any of her dates. Most of them thought it was a joke.  _ Poor bastards. _

“If you come visit my gravestone I can at least look up your dress,” Goten smirked at her, cocking his eyebrow at her approach.

“Goooten,” Bulla moaned and leaned into her palm, taking her spot against the wall. “Why do you say things like that?” Now that she was sure she felt something for him, she didn’t appreciate his teasing. “Why can’t you be serious?”

Goten turned to her so that they were now face to face. “I am serious,” he said but his flash of straight white teeth showed otherwise.

“Just my luck,” Bulla mumbled. “I can’t have the guy I want and the consolation prize doesn’t want me either.”

Goten gaped at her, opened mouthed, small sounds coming from the back of his throat. “Consolation prize, excuse me?!” He scoffed, “Who did you hope to land on before your shitty luck set you on me?”

“Uub,” she said, not bothering to hem and haw over it. “All your pictures I liked, I did because I liked one of his by accident and if he were to wonder about it he could see how I liked so many of yours without giving away my crush.”

“Uub?” Goten stared at her blinking a few times. “Doesn’t seem like your type, to be honest. Too quiet, too calm, a bit of a pushover.”

“I know!” Bulla said. Uub was so different from the guys she went for, maybe that’s why she was so fixated on him still despite his reserved personality. “But there’s something drawing me to him. It’s like his energy is so attractive you know? I have to stop my feet from moving towards him when we’re in the same room, and my mind drifts to his ki at the weirdest times and sometimes I get angry but I’m also glad he exists?” Bulla vocalized her weird feelings for the human for the first time. 

Goten started laughing. “Hmmm...sounds like you don’t want Uub to kiss you, you want to fight him,” Goten said. “There are some signals getting crossed.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Bulla said. She poured her heart out to Goten and his first response was to think she wanted to fight? Her first instinct was to get angry but when she stopped to think about it, what he said makes sense.

“Trust me, it’s happened to me too. Inexplicably drawn to someone but you can’t put your finger on it?” Goten implored her. “Why do you think our dads are obsessed with each other? It’s our Saiyan instincts compelling us to fight a strong opponent. Why do you think my dad took Uub under his wing in the first place?”

“No,” Bulla said, shaking her head. That couldn’t be it. She was trained up not much of a fighter, not obsessed with it, didn’t make it her identity.  _ Not like Uu _ —Bulla gasped.

“Now she gets it,” Goten said. “Because you have the most potential of us hybrids, you’ve never been excited at the prospect of fighting someone stronger than you—because there isn’t anyone nearby stronger than you—except for Uub.”

“Wait so.” Bulla soaked in everything he said. “Am I the stronger person you're inexplicably drawn to?” She felt the corners of her mouth rise. It was not often she saw him sputter and at a loss for words, and she was sure she never saw him blush.

“Uh, maybe,” Goten said and scratched the back of his head. “Or well, so I thought—”

Bulla grabbed at his head hanging by his side, feeling the electric jolt of his energy mingling with hers. “Or so you thought?”

“Maybe I was wrong about the reason for the attraction,” he said, looking down at their hands and swallowing.

“Isn’t it weird how everyone else isn’t offended by this?” Bulla said. She could hear them laughing and talking back in the living room not at all preoccupied by what was going on in the bathroom.

“They’re drunk,” Goten said. “They’ll come back to their senses tomorrow. Trunks will be ready to kick my ass, even if he was the architect.” 

“If they’re going to use it as an excuse, why can’t we?” Bulla didn’t know what came over her but Uub was out of her mind as she was faced with another opponent. She always thought him handsome, a part of her childhood affection lingering well into adulthood. His social media posts did not help her determination to see him only as a family friend. “Blame it on the alcohol?” Bulla asked as she put her free hand to his face to beckon him closer.

* * *

As it was her turn after that adventure with Goten in the bathroom, she grabbed onto the bottle, her head a jumbled mess. For the first time today, something went her way when the neck of the bottle stopped at the guy she wasn’t sure she had a crush on anymore. One way to find out, she supposed. 

Bulla leaned forward, more indifferent than excited, and pressed her lips against Uub’s. It was...nothing, she felt. A light pressure on her lips, as much of a thrill as practicing kissing on her hand.  _ Huh.  _ She sat back with a moment of clarity for the first time in a while. All the mayhem culminated in showing her what she really wanted.

Bulla again found the eyes of her fellow half-Saiyan whom she could tell was watching the preceding events with interest. The reaction she had hoped to see on Uub was now plain on her fellow hybrid’s face, a clenched fist, tight lips, and fiery eyes. Bulla gave him a smirk of her own. Maybe the universe was doing something right today after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have an opinion I would love to hear it! All criticism and praise— _especially_ praise—is welcome.


End file.
